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The 2023 Major League Cricket (also known as MLC 2023) was the inaugural season of Major League Cricket,[1] a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States.[2] The season was hosted at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.[3] The season was played from 13 to 30 July 2023,[4] with MI New York defeating the Seattle Orcas by seven wickets to win the inaugural title.[5][6]
| Dates | 13 – 30 July 2023 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and play-offs |
| Host(s) |  United States |
| Champions | MI New York (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Seattle Orcas |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches | 19 |
| Attendance | 70,000 (3,684 per match) |
| Player of the series | Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) |
| Most runs | Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) (388) |
| Most wickets | Trent Boult (MI New York) (22) |
| Official website | majorleaguecricket.com |
The tournament surpassed expectations financially, generating a reported $8 million in revenue.[7] The tournament also garnered positive and optimistic outlooks on the future of cricket in the United States.[8][9]
Background
editMajor League Cricket announced in November 2022 that its inaugural season would be played at Grand Prairie Stadium starting July 13 and concluding July 30.[10] MLC also revealed that the tournament would be played in a single round-robin format with fifteen league matches played among six franchises before a four-match play-off phase.[11][12]
In March 2023, the teams for the tournament were announced ahead of the league's inaugural draft—called the Texas Super Kings, the Seattle Orcas, the Los Angeles Knight Riders, the Washington Freedom, the MI New York and the San Francisco Unicorns, respectively.[13][14] The draft for the season was then held on March 19, with Harmeet Singh being picked first overall and Aaron Finch and Quinton de Kock among others highlighting the draft.[15][16] In the buildup to the season opener, teams signed multiple other players including Jason Roy, Adam Zampa and Moises Henriques.[17]
In April, USA Cricket—the governing body of cricket in the United States—officially sanctioned the tournament following a dispute with tournament organizers, American Cricket Enterprises, that threatened to delay the launch of MLC.[18][19] Tournament fixtures were announced on June 12—nearly two months later.[20][21] In addition, it also revealed that the tournament would be held at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium and Church Street Park for the group stage,[22][23] while all play-off matches and the final would be held at Grand Prairie Stadium. Tickets for the matches were also made available on the same day.[24]
Teams
editTeams were announced by MLC in March 2023, with team coaches and captains being announced in the months following.[14]
| Franchise | Head coach | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | Phil Simmons | Sunil Narine |
| MI New York | Robin Peterson | Kieron Pollard |
| San Francisco Unicorns | Shane Watson | Aaron Finch |
| Seattle Orcas | Pravin Amre | Wayne Parnell |
| Texas Super Kings | Stephen Fleming | Faf du Plessis |
| Washington Freedom | Greg Shipperd | Moises Henriques |
Squads
editA minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 19 players could be selected by the teams with a maximum of nine overseas players. The teams could select nine local players in the draft and another one as a wildcard. All teams released their squads ahead of the start of the season.[25][26]
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | MI New York | San Francisco Unicorns | Seattle Orcas | Texas Super Kings | Washington Freedom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
- Ambati Rayudu withdrew from Major League Cricket amid a proposal made by the BCCI to enact a year-long "cooling-off" period for recently retired players.[27] Rayudu was replaced by former CSK teammate Imran Tahir.[28]
- Wanindu Hasaranga withdrew from Major League Cricket due to both not receiving a NOC (no-objection-certificate) from Sri Lanka Cricket and due to Hasaranga wanting to "manage his workloads".[29] He was replaced in the squad by Tanveer Sangha.[30]
- Mitchell Marsh was pulled out of the tournament by Cricket Australia in order to manage his workload ahead of Australia's build-up for the 2023 Cricket World Cup and due to the tournament clashing with the Ashes series.[31]
- Sikandar Raza withdrew from Major League Cricket due to it clashing with the 2023 Zim Afro T10.[citation needed]
Venues
editMatches were held at two venues: Grand Prairie's Grand Prairie Stadium, with a capacity of 7,000 (expandable to 15,000) and Morrisville, North Carolina's Church Street Park, with a capacity of 3,500.
Points table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Orcas | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0.725 | Advanced to Qualifier |
| 2 | Texas Super Kings | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.570 | |
| 3 | Washington Freedom | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.097 | Advanced to Eliminator |
| 4 | MI New York (C) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1.004 | |
| 5 | San Francisco Unicorns | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −0.303 | |
| 6 | Los Angeles Knight Riders | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | −2.028 |
League stage
editTexas Super Kings
181/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Los Angeles Knight Riders
112 (14 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns
215/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
193/5 (20 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat.
Washington Freedom
144/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
148/5 (19.4 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas
177/4 (20 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
142 (17.5 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
Washington Freedom
163/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings
157/7 (20 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to bat.
MI New York
155/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Los Angeles Knight Riders
50 (13.5 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings
154/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
137/8 (20 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
San Francisco Unicorns
212/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Los Angeles Knight Riders
191/5 (20 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
175/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
177/4 (18.1 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss elected to field.
- Los Angeles Knight Riders were eliminated as a result of this match.
Texas Super Kings
127 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
128/2 (16 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
- Seattle Orcas qualified for the play-offs as a result of this match.
Washington Freedom
133/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
103 (19.5 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- Washington Freedom qualified for the play-offs as a result of this match.
Seattle Orcas
170/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Los Angeles Knight Riders
175/8 (19.1 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
Washington Freedom
160/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
161/2 (15.3 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns
171/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings
172/7 (19.1 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat.
- Texas Super Kings qualified for the play-offs as a result of this match.
MI New York
194/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
195/8 (19.2 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
- MI New York qualified for the play-offs and San Francisco Unicorns were eliminated as a result of this match.
Play-offs
edit| Qualifier / Eliminator | Challenger | Final | |||||||||||
| July 27, 2023 – Texas 19:30 CDT | July 30, 2023 – Texas, 19:30 CDT | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Orcas | 127/1 (15 overs) | QW | Seattle Orcas | 183/9 (20 overs) | ||||||||
| 2 | Texas Super Kings | 126/9 (20 overs) | July 28, 2023 – Texas, 19:30 CDT | CW | MI New York | 184/3 (16 overs) | |||||||
| QL | Texas Super Kings | 158 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
| July 27, 2023 – Texas, 15:30 CDT | EW | MI New York | 162/4 (19 overs) | ||||||||||
| 3 | Washington Freedom | 125/9 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
| 4 | MI New York | 141/7 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
MI New York
141/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
125/9 (20 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Texas Super Kings
126/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
127/1 (15 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings
158 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
162/4 (19 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Final
editSeattle Orcas
183/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
184/3 (16 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
- The MI New York won the inaugural Major League Cricket tournament as a result of this match.
Statistics
editMost runs
edit| Player | Team | Innings | Runs | High score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | 8 | 388 | 137* |
| Quinton de Kock | Seattle Orcas | 7 | 264 | 88* |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 6 | 235 | 110* | |
| Devon Conway | Texas Super Kings | 7 | 221 | 74 |
| Tim David | MI New York | 7 | 209 | 53* |
Most wickets
edit| Player | Team | Matches | Wickets | Best bowling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | MI New York | 8 | 22 | 4/20 |
| Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | 7 | 11 | 4/23 |
| Andrew Tye | 7 | 11 | 3/32 | |
| Imad Wasim | 7 | 10 | 2/23 | |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | Washington Freedom | 6 | 10 | 6/9 |
Awards
editOn July 28, 2023, a list of end of season awards was announced.[35]
| Name | Team | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | Most Valuable Player |
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | Leading run scorer |
| Trent Boult | MI New York | Leading wicket taker |
| Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | Domestic Player of the Series |
Broadcasting
editIn July 2023, Major League Cricket (MLC) announced that its inaugural season will be broadcast live in major cricketing nations.[36]
| Country | Television channel | Internet streaming applications |
|---|---|---|
| India[37][38] | Sports18 | JioCinema |
| United States & Canada[39] |
Willow TV |
|
| Australia[40] | Fox Cricket | |
| Pakistan[41] | A Sports |
References
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- ^ Chaudhary, Amit (25 March 2023). "MLC: Cricket's American dream". The Economic Times. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Tagore, Vijay (12 June 2023). "MLC's first season to be played in Grand Prairie and Morrisville". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Della Penna, Peter (15 November 2022). "Major League Cricket set for July 2023 launch in Grand Prairie". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Abraham, Timothy (31 July 2023). "Major League Cricket: Nicholas Pooran century inspires MI New York to inaugural title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Skipworth, William (31 July 2023). "Billionaire Ambani's New York Cricket Team Wins First Ever U.S. Major League Cricket Championship". Forbes. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Lavalette, Tristan (27 September 2023). "America's Major League Cricket Debut Surpassed Expectations On And Off The Field". Forbes. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ Burke, Elias (17 November 2023). "With a World Cup final next year, cricket's future in the U.S. is brighter than you think". The Athletic. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ Nawaz, Amna; Holmes, Ryan Connelly; Epstein, Simon (23 September 2023). "Why cricket is having a resurgence in popularity in America". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ Rajwani-Dharsi, Naheed (17 November 2022). "Why Dallas investors are buying into major league cricket". Axios. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Lavalette, Tristan (17 November 2022). "The New Pro T20 League In The U.S. Is Set To Shake Up Cricket Globally". Forbes. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Pant, Ashish (11 July 2023). "MLC: Teams, players, format, fixtures, and everything else you need to know". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Shapiro, Nina (2 April 2023). "Major League Cricket is coming to Seattle. Will it become the new soccer?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ a b Patel, Smit (16 March 2023). "DC's GMR group, MI and CSK to run MLC franchises". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Major League Cricket draft: Harmeet Singh makes history as first MLC pick". The Times of India. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Finch, de Kock unveiled on Major League Cricket draft day". Al Jazeera. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ IANS (10 June 2023). "Major League Cricket: Finch, Stoinis, Hasaranga among top cricketers to feature in MLC from July 13". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Lavalette, Tristan (13 April 2023). "America's Major League Cricket Has Been Sanctioned After A Dispute Threatened Its Historic Launch". Forbes. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Della Penna, Peter (23 March 2023). "MLC start under threat after dispute between organisers and USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "MLC 2023 schedule: Full fixtures list, venues and time table for Major League Cricket 2023". Wisden. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Seeley, David (13 June 2023). "Major League Cricket Announces 2023 Season Schedule, With First-Ever Match in Grand Prairie July 13". Dallas Innovates. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Wallis, Jay (15 November 2022). "'It's an exciting time' | Major League Cricket coming to Grand Prairie in July 2023". WFAA. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Bae, Cindy (5 May 2023). "Morrisville on track to enhance cricket experience, host Major League Cricket events". ABC 11. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Hays, Nate (14 June 2023). "MLC announce schedule, Church Street Park as second venue, tickets for sale". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Russell, Narine, Roy and Ferguson join Knight Riders in Los Angeles for MLC". ESPNcricinfo. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Captain Pollard, Rashid, Boult headline MI New York 2023 squad". Mumbai Indians. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Kishore, Shashank (8 July 2023). "Ambati Rayudu withdraws from Major League Cricket stint with Texas Super Kings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ Kuanal, James (12 July 2023). "Texas Super Kings sign Imran Tahir after Ambati Rayudu withdraws from inaugural Major League Cricket". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Tanveer Sangha join as Hasaranga's Replacement in MLC 2023". Times of Sports News. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "MLC 2023: Washington Freedom's complete list of players in Major League Cricket". Sportz Connect. Sportskeeda. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Roller, Matt (4 July 2023). "Maxwell, Marsh pulled out of the Hundred by Cricket Australia". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ Waris, Sarah (14 July 2023). "Explained: Why Major League Cricket Doesn't Have Official T20 Status | MLC 2023". Wisden. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Major League Cricket, 2023 batting most runs career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Major League Cricket, 2023 bowling most wickets career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ @MLCricket (27 July 2023). "My precious. Take a look at these beauties and let us know who you think will be taking them home!!! #MLCPlayoffs" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 July 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Major League Cricket Announces Further International Broadcasters for 2023 Season". Major League Cricket. 12 July 2023.
- ^ "Reliance's Viacom 18 bags media rights for Major League Cricket". The Economic Times. 7 July 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ "Major League Cricket lands in India with Viacom18 broadcast deal". SportsPro Media. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Major League Cricket adds CBS Sports Network, Sling TV as domestic rights-holders". SportBusiness. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Savage, Nic (13 July 2023). "Everything you need to know ahead of the inaugural Major League Cricket tournament". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Ary lands Major League Cricket rights in Pakistan, opening game a sellout". SportBusiness. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.